


Something Surprising

by nazgularepeopletoo, No_Day_But_Today



Series: Single Parent AUs [9]
Category: The Outsiders (1983), The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Alternate Universe, Darry Is The Ultimate Dad, M/M, Single Parent AU, This is cute, fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 06:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14826894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazgularepeopletoo/pseuds/nazgularepeopletoo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/No_Day_But_Today/pseuds/No_Day_But_Today
Summary: Prompt: You’ve been sleeping at mine because your house is being renovated and we aren’t even dating, yet every time you wake up to the baby crying and sigh, “i’ll go” i feel like we might as well be married.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Darry…? Why do you have a baby? … Where am I?” With a sigh, Darry walked back out to the living room, where Tim had finally picked himself up off the floor, looking slightly chagrined. Before he had time to say anything, the other man spoke again. “This is your house isn’t it? I’m sorry..” Darry just shook his head.





	Something Surprising

Darry Curtis had never expected to be taking care of a baby. Maybe when he was older, about 30, married and with his own house, but not when he was 22, alone, and still in his parents old house. It wasn't even his kid. Ponyboy was off at college, which was probably a good thing. Ever since the events of two years ago Pony's emotional state wasn't the best, and being woken up by a crying baby every few hours would have messed with his brain. Sodapop had enlisted and was in training God only knew where. Darry was proud of him, sure, but that meant that he was stuck with his kid. See, here's how it happened. Sandy had come back from Florida for a week or so a year ago and had begged to see Soda, sayin how she had done him wrong. That obviously had led to some kind of makeup sex or something, cause nine months later, there was a baby left on their doorstep. Unfortunately, Soda had enlisted to the army two months earlier, so Darry was stuck with the baby. 

When Soda had learned about his baby boy, he had tried to skip out on basic training, almost earning him a discharge notice, but Darry had convinced him to stay. He wouldn’t see his brother turn down his dreams simply because he had gone with the wrong girl. Soda called as often as he could to talk to him, and even wrote some letters for Darry to keep safe. So Darry was doing the best he could, juggling two jobs and caring for Jon. It was tough, but he was able to get Two-Bit to babysit when he was really in a pinch, so they did okay. 

Needless to say, when Darry woke up one bright March morning to find Tim Shepard fast asleep on his couch, he was surprised. No, more than surprised. He was shocked. The door was open to all of the boys, naturally, but Tim had only shown up once, and then he left seconds after they woke up. But here he was, snoring softly like he belonged there. Darry stood there for a solid five minutes blinking before he moved again. He moved quietly to the kitchen, warming up some formula for Jon and occasionally glancing out into the living room at Tim. He honestly didn’t have a clue of what to do. Was Tim going to wake up and leave like he did last time? Would he want breakfast? Did he need someone to talk to?

At that moment, Jon started crying, jolting Tim awake so quickly that he fell off the couch. Darry ignored him for the moment in order to rush into Soda and Pony’s old room, where Jon’s crib was. He scooped the baby up and took him downstairs to feed him. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Tim was still sprawled out face down on the floor. When he heard the sound of the baby crying he looked up at Darry.

“Darry…? What are you doin in my house?” Darry ignored him again in favor of getting Jon his bottle from the kitchen. Once he got Jon to start eating, he heard Tim yell from the living room again. 

“Darry…? Why do you have a baby? … Where am I?” With a sigh, Darry walked back out to the living room, where Tim had finally picked himself up off the floor, looking slightly chagrined. Before he had time to say anything, the other man spoke again. “This is your house isn’t it? I’m sorry..” Darry just shook his head.

“It’s fine, Tim. Is everything okay at home? I don’t usually see ya around here.” Tim stayed silent for a moment, glancing between Jon and Darry.

“My house is getting repaired. One of the pipes in the upstairs burst and completely destroyed a third of the place. Including my room and the living room. Curly and Angela are staying there still, but I can't handle the smell.” Darry nodded, bouncing Jon a little. 

“You can stay here as long as ya need, you know that.” Tim sat gingerly on the couch, as if hesitant to ask something.

“So….” he gestured minutely at the baby in Darry’s arms. “Is he… yours..?”

“Uh… sort of? He’s actually Soda’s. Sandy dropped the kid off after Soda’d enlisted, so I’m the one that really does the parenting.”

“Ah.” Tim fell silent, processing that. “So he’s not yours.” He looked almost relieved, but Darry put that off as him just waking up. 

“Is there anything you need? I might have some chocolate cake in the freezer. The tap’s got water. I’m goin’ out for groceries later tonight, if you wanna come along?” As he said this, he took Jon back back to his crib and settled him back down for a nap. Hopefully he would stay asleep for a while, giving Darry time to figure out just what on earth to do with the confused man in his living room. When he got back, Tim was still sitting, but looking much more awake. 

“Are you sure it’s okay f’r me to be stayin here?” Tim looked uneasy, glancing back occasionally at Jon’s room. “I don’t wanna be a pain. I can pay some kinda rent?” Darry shook his head, waving dismissively at the offer. 

“Don’t worry about it, Tim. Though I could use your help around the house. And with Jonny.” Tim glanced up at the name, a flicker of recognition in his eyes. He didn’t say anything about it, however, something Darry was thankful for. Without another word, Tim got up, wandering into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and to also check out what changes had happened since he had been there last. Not much had changed, though his memory was a little fuzzy. He could get used to this.

 

Tim wound up going with Darry to the grocery store that night, if only because he had nothing better to do with his life. The ride there was awkwardly silent. Neither of them were really well versed in dealing with another person in such a domestic setting, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable. The trip was uneventful, despite the fact that they almost ran into a group of Soc’s. 

Surprisingly, they fell into a kind of routine over the next couple of days. While Darry was at work, Tim would watch out for Jon, when Darry came home, Tim would go to work. He only worked a few hours at a small grocery store across town, and he would slip about half of his earnings in Darry’s cash jar when Darry wasn’t looking, since Darry wouldn’t “let him” pay rent. 

A few weeks after Tim moved in, Darry caught Tim in the kitchen. 

“Hey, you don’t have to keep sleeping on th’ couch if you don’t want to. I’ve got… space on my bed if you want to…” He trailed off, blushing. Tim felt himself turn red as well and he opened his mouth and closed it a few times before he finally found words to say.

“No that’s okay-” Darry spoke at the same time, staring at the floor.

“Sorry I shouldn’t have asked that was-”

“No no it’s just, I'm fine on the couch.”

They both fell silent, not even looking at each other. The silence was broken by the beginnings of a wail coming from Jon’s room. 

“I’ll be back,” Darry was out of the room in seconds, leaving Tim alone to think about what on earth had just happened. 

That night, Darry got ready for bed, cursing himself for being stupid before. He was just settling in when the floorboard outside of his room creaked. He sat up quickly, reaching for his switchblade before realising it was Tim. It was Tim. Standing sheepishly in the doorway looking exhausted. 

“Is that offer still… open?” Darry grinned, moving over to one side of the bed.

“Course it is.” He yawned, waiting for Tim to climb onto the bed before settling in again. Moments later he felt a warm body snuggle up to his back. He could get used to this.

 

It wasn’t long before Jon started crying. Loudly. Darry groaned, rousing himself from a quite pleasant dream. Before he could even get sit up, however, the warmth moved from his back, and Tim slid off the bed. 

“I’ve got it, you go back to sleep. You’ve got work in the morning.” 

Darry blinked, feeling himself fall a little bit in love.


End file.
